LaTosha Brown, Chief Executive Officer
A native of Mobile and Selma, Alabama, Ms. Brown began her non-profit career in youth leadership and program development. As the co-director of 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, she established a Youth Opportunity Job Development Center, launched technology centers in 7 rural Alabama communities, developed and managed youth programs, organized national youth camps, reactivated 15 youth chapters nationally and internationally and trained over 1000 African American youth leaders in the areas of civic engagement, leadership development, and community organizing.
Ms. Brown is an experienced political strategist and project director, having served as the Southern Regional Director for the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Founder of the Alabama branch of the aforementioned organization, State Advisor for Georgia Black Youth Vote, State Director for the NAACP Voter Fund and as a grass roots political organizer on a variety of successful campaigns. Ms. Brown is also active in the field of women’s rights, having worked with national women’s organizations such as the White House Project, the Hariou Commission and the Women Coalition for Dignity and Diversity in the Media.
In 2005, as America witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Brown founded the Saving Our Selves Coalition (SOS Coalition), a regional relief and recovery effort that provided infrastructure and support to poor and marginalized communities in the Gulf Coast region. Brown’s commitment to building effective institutions in the region has led her to work within the philanthropic and asset building sector; currently serving as an advisor and independent consultant to the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
In addition to her domestic experience, Ms. Brown has served as an international human rights trainer. She assisted international women’s leader, Hafsat Abiola, in establishing the Kudirat Institute for Nigerian Democracy (KIND) technology center in Lagos, Nigeria. Furthermore, she has presented and trained internationally at the World Social Forum in Venezuela, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Quebec Canada, and a United Nations Development Program Conference in Bangkok Thailand.
Cliff Albright, Chief Operating Officer
Cliff Albright was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, where he attended the nationally acclaimed Bronx High School of Science. From there, he went on to attend Cornell University, where he obtained his B.S. in Applied Economics and a M.A. in Africana Studies, specializing in political economy.
Mr. Albright served as a consultant with the World Bank, where he gained experience in Eastern Africa focusing on social issues such as health, education and housing. He later worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he was responsible for developing and managing the Multilateral Development Bank Early Warning System, a mechanism for tracking global development projects.
After moving to Alabama in 1998, he focused his attention on bringing financial resources to Alabama’s Blackbelt. While serving as a Resource Development Specialist for a coalition of organizations, he helped them to raise almost $2 million in only one year. Mr. Albright then created a mortgage company, Tayari Mortgage, which he used to make homeownership available to traditionally underserved populations. His efforts at providing housing were so effective that he was asked to serve on the Selma Housing Authority, where he helped facilitate a program to transform public housing residents into homeowners. He also helped establish a Federal Credit Union in order to bring financial services and financial education to one of the city’s most impoverished areas. Mr. Albright’s commitment to economic development led him to pursue and complete his Masters in Business Administration.
Mr. Albright also has a passion for teaching; he has taught at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, as well as Wallace Community College—Selma. He also incorporates teaching into his community activism, which has included youth leadership development, human rights work, hurricane recovery efforts (through the Saving Our Selves Coalition), and civic engagement. He also spent three years hosting an educational radio talk show, which focused on race and politics; his co-host on the program was the legendary civil rights attorney, J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Mr. Albright regularly provides training workshops on community organizing, economic development and strategic planning.
